Last Updated: July 3, 2020
Netflix may be a multi-genre platform, but its collection of horror movies makes up some of the genre's best selections. Ranging from original content and modern monsters to cult favorites and classics, the streaming service serves up some wicked picks for all things horror.
Like Hellraiser's puzzle box or The Shining's Overlook Hotel, Netflix offers users a wide-ranging doorway to horror - especially with the original movies that Netflix has been producing over the past few years. Their digital library has grown substantially, placing genre favorites like the Warrens and Jack Torrance shoulder-to-shoulder with lesser known creeps like the Moonlight Man and Black Phillip.
Between movies like Get Out sweeping with Oscar nominations and movies like Halloween and A Quiet Place scoring the top spot at the box office, the horror genre has entered into an unofficial golden age. Luckily, Netflix has made sure to offer some of the best - and downright creepiest - movies in the genre. And, now that the days of wandering down the horror aisle at Blockbuster is a thing of the past, users have plenty to sift through down Netflix's digital aisle instead. Here's all the best ones, presented in alphabetical order.
One of several Stephen King adaptations released by Netflix is 1922, based on one of the author's short stories from his collection Full Dark, No Stars. Set in Omaha, Nebraska, 1922 centers around a man named Wilf (Thomas Jane) who convinces his son to help murder his wife in order to keep her from moving away and selling their land. However, by the time he discovers that his heinous deed will have serious psychological consequences, Wilf is already being haunted by his wife's ghost, an infestation of rats hell-bent on destroying his home, and a curse that refuses to leave him be.
Religious themes go hand-in-hand with horror movies, and Netflix's Apostle is a shining example of this. Similar to 1973's The Wicker Man, Apostle centers around a man named Thomas (Dan Stevens) who infiltrates a mysterious cult in order to find his sister. Once there, he discovers the cult's disturbing relationship with God, which revolves less around love and peace than it does misery and torture. Director Gareth Evans - best known for the action-packed Raid film series - combines jarring energy with faith-based horror that fuels two hours of unnerving tension with a fair share of body horror.
One of the best horror films of the 1990s, director Bernard Rose's Candyman is also an excellent examination of race relations and class struggles in America, at least through the lens of the time it was made. Tony Todd plays the titular hook-handed villain, who is compelled to come to anyone who says his name five times into a mirror, and then slice them from groin to gullet. Virginia Madsen also stars as graduate student Helen Lyle, a woman who very much regrets her decision to disrespect Candyman with disbelief.
Horror history is full of killer dolls, but easily the most iconic is Child's Play's Chucky (Brad Dourif), a Good Guy possessed by the spirit of human serial killer Charles Lee Ray. While the idea of a killer doll naturally lends itself to humor, this first film, directed by Tom Holland, plays things deadly serious for the most part. Chucky is out to transfer his soul into the body of a young boy named Andy, and he'll take out anyone who gets in his way of accomplishing that goal. The most recent Chucky sequel, Cult of Chucky, is also available on Netflix.
In Creep, Mark Duplass stars as a peculiar individual named Josef who puts out an online ad requesting that someone film him for an entire day. He claims that the footage is for his unborn child, but Josef's motives seem less and less straightforward to Aaron (Patrick Kack‑Brice), the man who responds to the ad, the longer he's with him. Though Creep is slow-moving, its obscure tone makes for an overall unsettling viewing experience. And, if nothing else, it's paid off expertly with a wholly unexpected ending. Its sequel, Creep 2, plays on the same homemade aesthetic, but replaces an unsuspecting videographer with an eager video artist.
A small cabin-bound horror movie made on a low budget, 1981's The Evil Dead launched the directing career of Sam Raimi, set star Bruce Campbell on the path to becoming a B-movie icon, and created an enduring franchise. When Campbell's Ash and his group of friends head to a remote cabin, they discover an ancient book called the Necronomicon, and without thinking, play translated passages of the book via a tape recorder. This awakens an ancient evil, one out to possess and/or kill every single one of them. The story continues in Evil Dead II, sadly not available on Netflix.
Based on the novel of the same name by genre maestro Stephen King, Gerald's Game is an isolated thriller that cleverly uses a single location to its advantage. Mike Flanagan climbed the ladder at Netflix with this movie before tackling the series adaptation of Shirley Jackson's beloved haunted house novel The Haunting of Hill House, and he managed to score some serious scares. In the movie, struggling married couple Jessie and Gerald (Carla Cugino and Bruce Greenwood, respectively) try to rekindle their flame with a romantic getaway, only to face a desperate fight for survival. After Gerald dies of a heart attack moments after handcuffing his wife to the bed, Jessie must use her wits to free herself, stave off a rabid dog, and evade a mysterious creature she calls the Moonlight Man.
Not unlike the 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark, in which a blind woman, played by Audrey Hepburn, must fend off a group of intruders in her home, Hush centers around a deaf woman in a similar situation. Maddie (Kate Siegel) is attempting to live in peace deep in the woods, when a masked stranger shows up. What first begins with the stranger secretly stalking the woman quickly escalates into a life and death situation. Directed by Mike Flanagan, Hush was co-written by Flanagan and Siegel, who would later work together again on The Haunting of Hill House.
One of several horror franchises created by modern maestro James Wan, the first Insidious film - and sadly the only one available on Netflix - begins the series as what looks like a haunting story, but turns out to be a tale of astral projection and demonic possession. The Lambert family, headed up by stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, is one of the most relatable in horror this side of Poltergeist, which this film actually owes quite the debt to. Of course, Insidious' best invention was its realm of the dead, known as The Further, a terrifying creation.
To paraphrase Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, The Invitation manages to be a horror movie "without benefit of ghouls and goblins." When Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend are invited to a dinner party by Will's ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard), awkward tension is unavoidable. However, said tension takes a horrific turn when Will suspects that Eden and her new husband (Michiel Huisman) aren't nearly as innocent as they seem. Whether or not his suspicions prove to be valid depend on his efforts to unravel their ambiguous intentions.
Directed, written, and produced the Chiodo Brothers, 1988's Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a cult classic, and it's no wonder, as everything about it is just so delightfully strange. Then there's the practical effects that bring the Klowns, their weapons, and their ship to life, also done by the Chiodos, which will delight anyone who loves the arts of old-school prosthetic make-up and puppetry. Few are likely to be scared by these Killer Klowns, but any Netflix horror fan looking for a fun time should pay them a visit.
While many of the sequels are of questionable value, that doesn't mean lovers of a good scare should hesitate to stream 2007's Paranormal Activity on Netflix. Directed by Oren Peli, the extremely low-budget film tells a rather simple story about a young couple (Katie Featherston, and Micah Sloat) that's haunted by a terrifying supernatural force in their home. While many people have grown to hate the found-footage sub-genre of horror films, Paranormal Activity is an example of the form done right.
Putting aside the eternal debate about whether or not credited director Tobe Hooper actually helmed the film - many claim it was producer Steven Spielberg who was in command - 1982's Poltergeist remains one of the most celebrated horror films of the 1980s, and a top Netflix pick. Perhaps the main reason Poltergeist works so well is the believable chemistry among the Freeling family, who find themselves suddenly besieged by angry spirits, and their daughter Carol Anne (the late Heather O'Rourke) taken away to a ghost dimension. Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams play Freeling parents Steven and Diane, while Zelda Rubinstein shines as psychic Tangina.
The zombie subgenre has been done to death, but there have been some creative standouts in recent years. One such film is Ravenous, which revolves around the citizens of a small village who must band together to survive a flesh-eating virus. Like 28 Days Later and REC, it puts a unique spin on common zombie tropes, adding some surprising depth to the genre. In fact, even among all the body horror and despair, the most jarring aspect of Ravenous exists within its ambiguous ending, which resulted in some divisive responses from audiences.
Buddy road trip movies typically belong to the comedy genre, but there are exceptions. John Landis' An American Werewolf in London walked a fine line between comedy and horror, but The Ritual sticks strictly to the latter. It centers around a group of friends who embark on a hike in Scandinavia to honor their recently deceased friend - only it doesn't go according to plan. Instead of finding solace, they encounter a local legend based in Norse Mythology that wants nothing more than to devour them one by one. The movie stars Rafe Spall, who starred in J.A. Bayona's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
A cult classic, 2001's Session 9 came and went from theaters quietly, but has amassed quite the following on video. The debut of notable horror director Brad Anderson, Session 9 is set in an abandoned mental hospital, and amazingly, was actually shot in one, that being the infamously haunted Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts. The story centers on a crew sent in to remove asbestos from the facility, only to encounter spooky events that threaten their very sanity. David Caruso, Josh Lucas, and Peter Mullan star.
2012's Sinister introduced the world to Bagul, an ancient Pagan god that requires the souls of children to survive. Ethan Hawke's Ellison Oswalt, a true crime author, becomes the latest to run afoul of Bagul when his family moves into a house where vicious murders occurred. Oswalt finds a collection of Super 8 films there depicting even more killings, leading him down a rabbit hole of madness and death, in this great Netflix addition.
Zombies have invaded rural neighborhoods, cities, underground facilities, and apocalyptic landscapes, but in Train to Busan, the setting is far more contained. When Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo) travels with his estranged daughter to Busan, they discover that they are in the midst of a zombie outbreak. The movie marries survival horror with a creative spin, in which the passengers on the train desperately attempt to find their way to safety, without leading the zombie horde with them. With a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Train to Busan has been heralded by many as one of the best zombie movies ever, and James Wan even announced that he'll produce a remake.
Directed by Eli Craig, 2010's Tucker & Dale vs. Evil stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as the titular duo, mild-mannered hillbillies living in West Virginia. Tucker and Dale are nice people, but resemble the type of backwoods villains seen in many a horror movie, and a series of comic misunderstandings lead a group of young friends to believe the two capable of murder. A lesson in not judging a book by its cover, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a great blend of slasher and comedy, and a great Netflix pick.
Supernatural lore surrounding early settlers in New England is nothing new, but writer/director Robert Eggers managed to breathe something unique into 17th-century witch panic with The Witch. After a family is banished from their village due to their conflicting religious beliefs, they quickly succumb to one horror after the next that may or may not have to do with a local witch residing in the woods. The family ultimately suspects oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) of practicing witchcraft, which rapidly reaches a deadly boiling point.
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